


Event Caleidoscope

by HandmaidenOfHorror



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Breaking the Fourth Wall, F/F, Gen, Horror, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:41:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24112216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HandmaidenOfHorror/pseuds/HandmaidenOfHorror
Summary: When Barbara and Harley get kidnapped soon after each other, Steph, Cass, Kate and Renee have to cooperate with Selina and Pamela to save their loved ones.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Kate Kane/Renee Montoya, Pamela Isley & Selina Kyle & Harleen Quinzel, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain & Barbara Gordon
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10
Collections: Fandom 5K 2020





	Event Caleidoscope

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kameiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kameiko/gifts).



Harley Quinn stepped into the most heavily guarded ward of Arkham Asylum. The safest part of the hospital was not so safe for somebody who’s been there both as a doctor and as a patient. As much as she loved the drama and being in the center of attention, this time she had a job to do, something no one has accomplished so far, something she needed to see done.

She was there to kill the Joker.

She took all the precautions she could to make the mission stealth. She prayed to God she won’t meet any of the guards on her way, and perhaps God listened. She hadn’t seen anyone, almost as if the hospital was deserted. Even the ward itself, normally filled with screams, howls and mad laughter at all times, was eerily silent and dark.

Perhaps it should have tipped her off, but Harley was a clown and not a bat, so she just walked slowly towards what she knew was Joker’s cell, focusing on making her steps soft and soundless. Finally, she reached the door.

“Mistah J?”, she whispered while typing the password to open the door and confirming the code with fake finger prints (whose owner was fine, she had copied them from the pad itself last time she was there – maybe she was a bit of a bat, after all), “I came for you.”

This sounded vague and kinda like the Harley he knew, she hoped. She saw the silhouette of Joker’s body, sitting in the corner of the cell. He didn’t react to her words. Not that surprising, as the reports said he’s been catatonic recently. This will be easy, then. She pulled out a machete, more convenient for the job than her usual sledgehammer. She took a few steps in, facing the man directly, and when she was about to cut his throat, she heard the Joker speak.

“I was waiting for you too, Harley,” the voice was coming from behind, not front of her.

She immediately turned, only to be shot with a syringe straight into her neck. Harley collapsed on top of the ‘Joker’ whom she now recognized as one of the guards, jokerized and long dead. How did he know what she was planning? She hasn’t even told her beloved Ivy or best friend Selina.

As she was losing consciousness, tears started flowing from her eyes. She won’t ever see them again…

“Goodnight, Harley. Dream sweetly, as you will wake up to a nightmare~”

 _“Bastard”_ , thought Harley, and then the world went black.

***

Kate woke up to the sound of shattering glass and sat immediately, her girlfriend Renee similarly alert. In Gotham, burglaries were frequent, even when you lived in a high rise – especially in a high rise, with so many supervillains specializing in climbing or flying. However, a Catwoman or a Kite Man would just quickly escape with whatever they stole if the occupants woke up. But there are much worse possibilities in the city. Worse people interested in a police woman and a millionaire heiress. Worse people interested in a pair of superheroes.

Before any of them could jump out to tackle any possible danger, a girl’s voice called out.

“Sorry! You are probably awake now, so can we enter?”

The two women found themselves dumbstruck, before Renee pulled herself together.

“Aren’t you already in?”, she asked slowly walking towards the door of their bedroom with her gun, Kate having her back, “And who the hell are you?”

She kicked the door open and pointed her gun at two girls in costumes, one of them unmistakably a Batgirl.

“Batkids,” Renee lowered her gun, wanting to facepalm, “they never knock”

Kate said nothing, but thanked the darkness for not showing her blush. It was however a short lived relief, as one of the girls switched the lights on.

“Sorry about the vase, but we were in a bit of a hurry,” she removed her cowl, and Batgirl followed, “Stephanie Brown, Spoiler.”

“Cassandra Wayne,” replied Batgirl.

“To keep it short, Oracle was kidnapped, Batman, Huntress and Black Canary are off planet, we couldn’t contact Nightwing in Bludhaven and Robin has broken both legs and is in hospital. So we came to you,” Stephanie explained.

“How do you know Oracle was kidnapped?”, asked Kate.

“I live with her. With Barbara,” explained Cassandra, correctly assuming that Kate and Renee knew her identity anyways (but damn she shouldn’t just throw their real names around, thought Renee), “I went to patrol, she was there. I returned, she wasn’t, and the flat was…”

“In disarray?”, asked Renee, and Cassandra nodded.

“What about the clues?”, asked Kate and Renee simultaneously, than looked at each other in surprise as Stephanie giggled briefly.

“That’s the problem,” said Stephanie, “There are no clues! The place looks as if there was a fight, but there are no traces that usually are found on a fight scene, as if somebody cleaned it all out but at the same time made it obvious that a fight took place!”

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Renee.

“Tim said the same,” agreed Cassandra.

Renee quickly tried to catch up who was who in the Bat family. There were too many of them!

“Robin?”, she asked.

“Yes,” replied Cassandra.

Renee hasn’t interacted with the girls before (unlike Kate), but now she thought she had a grasp of their personalities and couldn’t help but think they’d make a good Batman and Robin.

“So, time to suit up, isn’t it?” Renee asked Kate.

“That much for a good night’s sleep,” agreed Kate, reaching for the secret compartment containing the Question suit and spare Batwoman gear.

“Can you two wait in the kitchen while we dress up and try not to break anything else?”, she asked and the girls nodded and disappeared. When Batwoman and Question entered the room Stephanie was on the verge of dropping a cookie jar, which was saved last minute by Cassandra.

“You were quick!”, called the girl, embarrassed, then produced two earpieces, “This is so Tim can be in contact with us!” The two women put the pieces in their ears and heard a youthful voice.

“Is this working?” Robin asked, to which Kate replied with a grunt, “Hello Batwoman, hello Question, sorry for waking you up this late, or this early, but we are having an emergency and need all the help we can find.”

 _“We couldn’t find anyone else”_ were the unspoken words. Renee felt mildly offended at the Bats, before she remembered this is just how Bats were and sighted with frustration.

“Do you have anything we can start with?” she asked Tim.

“Actually, yes!”, said the boy, “Harley Quinn went missing two weeks ago.”

“Joker’s sidekick?”, asked Renee, “Do you think she kidnapped Oracle?”

“She’s no longer with the Joker and she’s reformed!”, added Stephanie, listening with her own device.

“That’s true! She was living with Poison Ivy and Catwoman-“

“Isn’t Catwoman a prolific thief and Poison Ivy a wanted eco terrorist?”, asked Renee, frowning.

“It’s complicated,” sighted Tim.

“Basically the three of them keep most of the crime from their neighborhood, save feral and abandoned animals, house and feed homeless children and created a beautiful community garden, so we leave them alone unless we catch them red handed,” Stephanie explained helpfully.

“That doesn’t sound like crime fighting at all,” started Renee, but Kate put a hand on her arm.

“Just leave it. It’s complicated,” she said, and Renee decided to let the matter go at least until Barbara Gordon (she’d bet her right hand for the commissioner only pretending to be unaware who his daughter was) is returned safely.

“So, about the lead-“, Kate started.

“Yes!,” chirped Tim, “She just disappeared one night without a trace and has not been seen since, neither as Harley Quinn nor in her civilian identity, and while Batman thought she returned to the Joker it seems more like she was kidnapped. And with Barbara missing-“

“You think it’s the Joker,” interrupted Kate.

“Yes! But please stop interrupting me,” said Tim, “the thing is, he’s missing too! One night Harley entered Arkham Asylum and the next morning the police found all the employees and patients slaughtered, other than the Joker of course!”

“You said she was reformed,” said Renee, before remembering Tim’s plea, “Sorry.”

“The thing is she entered _after_ they were killed, and avoided any situations where she might have been detected en route, meaning she wanted to avoid casualties! Which means the machete she brought with herself was most likely to kill the Joker!”

“That’s plenty of assumptions,” said Renee, “and doesn’t bring us any closer to finding Oracle.”

“Hey, that’s a lead we have here,” said Stephanie.

“We need to visit Catwoman and Poison Ivy,” said Cassandra, “ask them about Harley Quinn.”

“It will end in a fight,” said Kate.

“We don’t have any other option! Please don’t make us go alone,” Stephanie begged.

“I’ll go with them,” said Kate.

“I don’t have any other option, do I said?,” said Renee.

“How do we find them?” asked Kate.

“I loaded the map!”, said Stephanie, showing the others her brightly shinning cellphone.

 _“This won’t end well and I’ll be here so that it doesn’t end in a tragedy,”_ thought Renee as she left the flat through the balcony.

***

Barbara opened her eyes. She felt disoriented and her head hurt. Last thing she remembered was realizing that somebody was in her flat and that somebody wasn’t Cassandra. She moved to face the intruder and then the world went black.

So she’s been kidnapped again. Great. Hopefully Bruce will find her-

And then she remembered. Bruce was off-planet, and so were Dinah and Helena. Dick was working on a police case undercover and finding him would require Bruce’s or her own level of expertise, or at least Tim’s – but Tim was in a hospital, both legs broken on a Teen Titans mission. She’s send him books and “Get well soon!” cards only two days prior. Was it two days? For how long has she been unconscious? And where was she, actually?

As her eyes adjusted to darkness, she took a look around. Moving her head was painful, and she couldn’t move the rest of her body, though thankfully a dull pain informed her that her spine hasn’t been further damaged (for now).

Her surroundings were pretty chill, which bothered her, as she tended to have trouble keeping the proper body temperature (which was a major part of why she solely played the part of mission control.)

She was lying on what seemed like a hospital bed, but the room wasn’t a hospital room. It seemed to be a cellar or an underground storage room, with faint light coming from under the doors. And she wasn’t alone.

Her bed was pushed to the wall opposite to the wall with the doors, and on each side there was a similar hospital bed, each having an occupant. She couldn’t see clearly, but it seemed that one of them was a woman, and another a man. She tried to catch some details, and realized that the woman’s skin was unnaturally pale.

Harley Quinn?! That made the identity of the kidnapper obvious, and greatly lowered her chances of survival. How could the Joker realize her true identity? Or did he even care? Did he simply kidnap her because it hurt Bruce the first time? And who was the man on the other bed? He was built completely unlike her father, so at least he was safe. He also seemed too muscular to be either Dick or Tim. Who was he?

And then she heard the door unlock.

***

Cassandra, Kate, Renee and Stephanie stood on the rooftop in the neighborhood protected by the Sirens. While on the first glance it didn’t seem that different from every other neighborhood, it seemed much more peaceful – quiet, with no people on the street and only normal sounds of a sleeping city. Even some early birds started singing, the large community garden being their refuge.

“The neighborhood really improved under their protection,” mused Renee.

“We told you so!”, chirped Stephanie, “They are really trying to be good people. Well, mostly. In certain definitions of good.”

“What now?”, asked Cassandra.

“If we just break into the building the three women are, well, _were_ living in, they will attack us and we will waste precious time fighting before the misunderstanding is cleared,” said Renee.

“Do you mean…”, Tim trailed off.

“Yes,” said Renee, “I’m going to knock the door. There are three possibilities. One, Ivy attacks me right away, and then you go to my help. Two, they try to escape. You will be waiting on the rooftops on both sides of the building to give chase as soon as you see them. Three, and it’s the least possible situation, they answer peacefully and let me explain.”

Renee sighed.

“All of you have fought them, but me and the Sirens are strangers, so I’m safest if you don’t follow me. Really,” she looked at Kate pointedly.

“You make a good leader,” said Tim.

“Thanks”, Renee replied, “All agree?”

The three other women nodded.

“Alright, so all in position.”

Renee watched the superheroines disappear in the shadows before she stepped onto the pavement and leisurely walked towards the Sirens’ home. She wanted to be seen, as it was a show of respect, giving the occupants of the house time to decide how to act. And hopefully, it would make them simply vary rather than outright aggressive.

When she reached the door, it was opened before she could knock or ring the bell. She was met face to face with Poison Ivy. Rather than angry, she looked sad and tired, with dark circles under her red eyes. She looked as if she was crying, Renee realized.

“Good-“, Renee started, but was interrupted before she could finish her greeting.

“Get out,” Poison Ivy demanded, “we won’t be dealing with you, not tonight, not ever.”

“Peace,” said Renee, “I wanted to help you find Harl-“

She was again interrupted, this time by Ivy shrieking.

“Get out! Get out and don’t mention that traitor to me! Get out!”

“Easy, easy”, a female voice called from inside the house and soon Catwoman appeared, wearing only a night gown (she could uncover her identity!, a thought appeared and died in Renee’s head) and hugging Poison Ivy who burst into tears in her embrace. After she calmed down, Catwoman turned to face Renee.

“You need to leave now,” she said coldly.

“Please! Somebody kidnapped one of my friends and I think it’s the same person who kidnapped Harley!”

“She wasn’t kidnapped,” said Poison Ivy, “She left us to return to the Joker.”

“Why have nobody seen her with the Joker then.”

That made them silent for a second.

“They must be hiding, planning something heinous,” said Ivy. She was no longer shouting and actually sounded unsure of her line of reasoning.

“But what if it is the Joker planning to do something heinous to Harley and my friend? Shouldn’t we at least try to check what is true?”

This time, the silence was longer. Ivy and Catwoman were contemplating the possibility, and then Ivy turned to Catwoman.

“She might be somewhere, hurting and alone, and we didn’t even try to find her.”

“We will find her now,” she reassured her… friend? lover? Renee was unsure. She then turned to Renee.

“Ten minutes from in the community garden. Tell your friends to show themselves too.”

And after saying that she closed the door.

“That went unexpectedly well,” said Tim straight into Renee’s ear as she left the possession, “I already signaled the others to meet you under the largest oak in the garden. You were awesome, I don’t think Batman would convince them to cooperate so quickly!”

“Thanks, Robin, but let’s focus on what we came here for,” she said quietly, “We are still not sure if they are on our side.”

Renee joined Kate and the two teens under the tree and soon enough Poison Ivy and Catwoman appeared in full costumes. The two groups stared at each other for a few seconds before Stephanie broke the silence.

“So, truce until we find our friends?”

“Truce,” replied Poison Ivy and Catwoman nodded.

“Ok, so here’s what we know,” Renee explained the disappearance of the daughter of commissioner Gordon (in a way that didn’t link the Bats to her in any way other than what’s common knowledge) as well as possible link with Harley’s disappearance. When she was finished, Renee stopped talking to give the women a chance to ask questions, but they kept silent themselves.

“You thought Harley Quinn left you and returned to the Joker,” Kate broke the silence, “What made you think so?”

Catwoman sighed.

“The day before her disappearance we were talking in the afternoon. The exact topics are not for you to hear, but it made Harley remember the Joker and what he did to her. She was really upset and locked herself in her room, saying she needs time for herself. When she didn’t reply in the morning, I picked the lock and found her missing. The newspaper this morning described what they called the Arkham massacre, and we connected the dots and…”

“It’s all my fault. I gave up on Harley so easily. How can I call her my girlfriend?” Poison Ivy seemed to be on the verge of tears again.

“We can still find her, her and Barbara,” said Cassandra, trying to comfort the villainess, “You will make up. But we need your help searching.”

“We will provide all help necessary,” said Poison Ivy, “and then I’ll kill the bastard.”

Before anyone could comment on that, a high childish voice was heard from the top of the oak.

“Finally! Now, let’s get to work!”

A small figure jumped from the tree, landing perfectly between the two groups of women. The Bats froze – it was a boy in a Robin uniform, not current Robin’s uniform but the uniform Dick has worn when he was just starting as Robin. Renee clenched her fists in frustration – they were doing so well and now this strange boy had to destroy it all!

“Trap!” snarled Poison Ivy, her vines ensnaring the boy before he even had the chance to straighten himself. The four other women barely escaped them.

“We didn’t lie to you!”, shouted Kate, evading the vines growing longer and thicker.

“And we don’t know the child!”, added Stephanie, evading Catwoman’s kick.

“They say the truth,” said the boy the question, almost whispering, as he had trouble breathing, “I know where Harley is.”

That caused Catwoman and Poison Ivy to hold off their assault.

“Where is she,” asked Poison Ivy coldly.

“How do we know it’s not a trap?”, asked Catwoman.

“What is going on?!”, Tim asked frantically.

“Let him breathe!” called Cassandra, sensing the boy’s distress, as Stephanie described what happened to Tim.

“Fine”, said Poison Ivy, loosening the vines around the boy so that he could breathe easier but not letting him out of them, “You stay where you are.”

“They, ah!” the boy caught his breath, “They didn’t know about me. I am a secret even Batman is not aware of-“

“Get to the point,” ordered Poison Ivy.

“O-okay. So there was somebody dear to Batman returning to him, and I was following him in case he does something stupid, and then I saw Joker kidnap him and disappear into thin air!”, the boy tried to explain, “Thankfully, I put a tracer on him so I know his location, but I needed help, so I went to the Batcave-“

“Wait, how did you know where Batcave was?”, asked Stephanie, “Did you steal an old Robin outfit?”

“I didn’t steal anything!” the boy replied, “It’s mine! I’m Batman’s son!”

This statement was followed by the longest period of shocked silence this night.

“Yet another kid, huh?” Catwoman finally broke the silence, looking amused, but Poison Ivy had none of it.

“Where is she? Where is Harley?”, she demanded to know.

“On the same island where the Joker had imprisoned a Gordon before,” answered the boy.

***

When Jason intended to return to Gotham, he had a plan. A complex but foolproof plan that would end with him outsmarting Batman and getting his revenge – such a great ambition for somebody who was barely an adult (not that he was even legally alive to begin with). Or rather, the plan would have been foolproof if it was not for the child that followed him on almost every step ever since he regained his full mental capabilities, the child convinced that he was better than Jason, hovering in his personal space and criticizing everything he made until he gave up on any idea, until all he wanted to do was to run away from that damn brat.

So, in the end Jason arrived in Gotham much earlier than anticipated, without much of a plan to speak of, but a great desire to get away from Damian. And, if this failed, he hoped he could throw the brat at Bruce while he was still too dumbstruck with seeing Jason again. Here goes the revenge, but plans need to be adjusted to the course of life. Unfortunately for Jason, before he could find Bruce, scream at Damian or even book a room in the cheapest motel, the Joker found him.

Extracting his revenge on the Joker might have been Jason’s second (well, fourth, but let’s not dwell on that) greatest wish, but it was always on his terms. What ended up happening was the villain catching him unprepared, further shocking him by addressing him as “the bird who didn’t stay dead” while brandishing the dreaded crowbar, coated in blood of his newest victim (Jason froze as he couldn’t help but imagine it was his blood). _How?!_ How could he possibly know? Was there are a mole in the League of Asassins? A mind reader?

No matter what was the case, he ended up being taken out by a tranquilizer shot after an embarrassingly short attempt at fighting the seemingly alone villain. Jason blanked out and woke up to a heavy headache and confusion. He attempted to sit up, but realized his body was paralyzed. Events of the previous night came back to his mind and Jason started silently panicking. It was like dying and waking up in a grave, mixed and served on a disgustingly filthy plate. He used the breathing technique Bruce has taught him to calm himself down. As it started to work, Jason thanked his father and realized he no longer wanted to hurt him, just see him again.

Even though most of his body was paralyzed and he couldn’t make a sound (not that he wanted to possibly give him the attention of the man very much intending to kill him for good this time), he managed to look around to at least have a clue about his surroundings. It wasn’t much, just a basement like many in the city. However, what raised red flags in his mind was who else was in the basement. There were three old hospital beds, one occupied by him, and other two by unconscious women. One of them was Barbara.

 _Barbara!_ Jason’s mind screamed. He could accept his own death, but watching somebody else die was too much. He barely knew Barbara, but he cared about and couldn’t stand her losing a hair off her head. Hell, he couldn’t stand the thought of the other woman suffering – he had never met Harley Quinn, but from what he knew she joined the Joker after he died and left him before Jason regained his senses, currently attempting to live a mostly noble life. There’s no way in hell Jason would let the Joker hurt them. No way-

He froze and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep as he sensed Barbara waking up. It would be too shameful to meet this way again, and he’d rather not risk her recognizing him. It wasn’t a good moment to think about pride, but Jason couldn’t help but do. He prayed against all odd that the demon brat was as stubborn as he thought he was and manages to find and free them (being grateful to Damian was a low blow to Jason’s pride, but he’d rather be alive and ashamed than watch women being tortured to death before dying himself).

Jason heard the door unlock and there he was, the bastard himself.

“Wakey wakey”, Jason heard Joker’s calling in a sing song voice and his eyes opened up wide against his will. _What the hell?_

(He suspected hell was the answer. Was this all a cruel punishment? Has he never really returned? He might have deserved hell, but Barbara…!)

“All eyes on me? Perfect! Let’s start the sketch!”, Joker laughed, and Jason found his eyes fixed on him. Barbara remained silent, but Harley moaned, desperately trying to break free of whatever it was that kept them paralyzed.

“Eager to touch me again? Don’t worry darling, you will have a chance soon,” the Joker sent Harley a mocking kiss, to which she replied with low growl.

“Anyways, it’s time for show! Let’s start with how we got here, or rather, how I got here. You could say it all started at the Ace Chemicals, and you wouldn’t be wrong, in a way, but you would of course,” Joker stopped as if he waited for his audience to laugh. When the laughter didn’t come, he frowned and continued explaining.

***

It might have sounded impossible, but Barbara realized that the Joker had become even more unhinged and unpredictable than before. He was awful to begin with, got worse, but now? He acted as if he was constantly on consciousness-altering drugs, and the powers? Where did he get those powers? (Because she realized, to her terror, that the Joker was indeed using magic or superpowers) She didn’t think the Joker could have gotten any worse, but there she was.

“To keep it short, as Jack Napier fell into toxic waste at Ace Chemicals, he caught a glimpse of the reality and realized a truth of it – that it is not real after all,” he interrupted himself with a fit of hysterical laughter.

“Anyways,” he continued, catching his breath, “this is how yours truly was born. If nothing is real, then no crime, no hurt is real, but at least it’s entertaining to me!”

 _So that’s what the Joker’s motivation was?!_ Barbara was shocked. Such a simple explanation that perfectly explained all his bizarre actions.

“But then, I died,” said the Joker, faking having to weep his eyes with a hankerchief he literally produced out of thin air.

“And with this I realized the highest truth – that I am not real And since I’m not real no rules limit me!”, continued Joker, and then he frowned.

“Well, I cannot interfere with my birth or anything before that, but once I’m born the whole timeline is an open buffet! I got to replay my greatest hits over and over and over again! You cannot comprehend how many times I have explained it to you, in how many ways I have killed you, but I digress. I’ve been preparing for this moment and in the meantime, I got rid of competition,” he flipped his fingers and the wall behind him flipped.

Now that was something that made Barbara freeze in fear and Harley to stop hissing and growling. The wall was full of trophies, skin cut off human faces and crudely arranged to resemble how the owners looked like in their life, each face being labelled below in crayon, the childish hand writing a final mockery of the victims. Barbara’s eyes raced from face to face. He managed to kill most of Gotham’s supervillains, even such heavy weights as Bane or Killer Croc! She no longer felt so sure her friends will stand a chance against the madman.

***

“Of course, there are a few fields missing before I can say bingo,” he pointed to empty space in the center of the wall.

Harley resumed her attempts at freeing herself once she spotted her name, as well as code names of Pamela and Selina (and whoever Red Hood was now, she didn’t know Joker was that possessive of a throwaway alias).

No way in hell was he letting the deranged man touch her loved ones. She might be insane, but she was no longer the idiot who fell for his charms! And the display made her angry – she _liked_ some of the other supervillains (though she cheered for a second upon seeing Black Mask’s bloodied ‘false face’).

Whatever the means of his control were, as soon as they were off she was going to kill the Joker. No need for drama or speeches, she will simply cut his throat open and—

And that was the moment the trophy wall exploded.

***

“I still believe you should have stalked and ambushed Joker,” Tim said through the airpiece.

“You cannot stop a woman in love,” replied Kate.

Poison Ivy rushed to safe her beloved and only Catwoman telling her she might kill Harley by accident if she tore the island apart with her plants stopped her from doing just that – at least, until they got the precise location of Damian’s mysterious “him” and were sure that the basement room contained three alive hostages (to their relief) and an alive captor (unfortunate).

So Ivy exploded the wall behind the Joker and the other women followed suit, ready to fight and rescue. Unexpectedly, the scenery changed. The room they’ve ran inside turned into a circus tent, somehow. The Joker was nowhere in sight, but at least the captives were free and now capable of movement.

“Pamela, Selina!”, Harley cried out, not giving a damn about their secret identities, “I’m so sorry!”

Said women immediately ran towards Harley while Batgirl and Spoiler ran towards Barbara. It couldn’t be so easy, it never is with the Joker.

“Wait!”, Kate yelled, “It’s a trap!”

The women immediately stopped and ducked, as the sand between them and the prisoners separated, revealing a pit with sharp spikes. Harley managed to quickly escape too, but Barbara couldn’t. For a split second Kate thought the woman was about to die when the mysterious young man caught her and pulled her to safety.

“Don’t worry, I got you, Babs”, he said.

“You know my name?”, asked Barbara in surprise, still shocked from a series of near death experiences.

“No time to explain!”, Kate yelled, “Spoiler, escort the captives out of the building! Preferably out of the island!”

“I’m not going anywhere!” Harley yelled back, avoiding another trap (flaming arrows, where are all those things even coming from?!) and picking up a hand axe that was used in one of the earlier traps.

“Fine!”, Kate looked around, saw the man and Stephanie moving Barbara towards the exit, and finally caught a glimpse of the Joker. The madman was standing on the top of the circus tent upside down, orchestrating the traps as if he were a conductor. It was much further from normal than it usually gets in Gotham, but they had to stop him.

“There!”, Kate yelled pointing at the Joker, all the women focusing their attacks on the man.

***

Even with help of the mysterious “Batman’s loved one”, the run to the entrance took way longer than it should have, not only because human bodies are heavy, not only because they had to look out for any more traps, but also because the building seemed to shift the whole time – if they took their eyes away from the entrance, it disappeared and moved to a completely different place, adding to the general chaos. But they made it. They walked away from the nightmarish circus and hid behind ruins of another, normal looking building.

“Are you hurt, like, physically?”, Stephanie asked Barbara. She was usually the one who did the thinking for the team, but now she looked pale, with irises blown wide.

“I… am not sure. At this point, I’m not sure of anything. I… cannot really think straight,” Barbara started sobbing.

Stephanie hugged her to comfort her, but she couldn’t help but to think about all the people left in the strange building with now magical or paranormal Joker. As Barbara stopped sobbing, Stephanie wanted to break the hug to say she’s going to return when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Oh, right, there was this other guy.

“I’m going to return,” he said as she turned.

“You can’t!”, Stephanie couldn’t let him.

The man shook his head.

“I am at least as well trained as you, and you are better fit to accompany a terrified person. I have to go.”

“Who are you, “Batman’s loved one?”, Stephanie asked and the young man smiled.

“Is that what Damian called me? Well, I’ll tell you when I return,” and he took running towards the circus. Stephanie watched him enter the diabolical building, and then Barbara tugged on her cape.

“Have you called the police?”, Barbara asked Stephanie weakly.

“Robin did, but I’m not sure it’s a situation they could help in,” explained Stephanie, and then the circus’ roof collapsed.

***

Funny thing, thought Jason an hour after running back to the Joker’s hellish circus. He had a plan that went down the drain before he could even start implementing it, but he ended up achieving what he wanted to begin with (well, the part that wasn’t pointless). And it went so fast and easy it was utterly anticlimactic.

He entered the building unseen by any of the combatants, picked the axe Harley dropped at some point, managed to get close to the Joker and swung it, remembering every horrible thing the man has done to him, to Barbara, to his mother. The blade cut through the madman’s skull as if it was a watermelon, and the Joker collapsed, dead on the spot.

Unfortunately, the circus tent collapsed with him, leading to more chaos, but no more terrible traps sprung to life, there was no horrid dead hand’s revenge. Just some screaming and everyone cutting themselves free from the material. It couldn’t have been that easy.

Jason immediately jumped to where the Joker fell and cut and tore through the fabric, and there he was, very, very dead.

“Is he really dead?”, asked Catwoman.

“Even if he isn’t I can make sure of it,” Poison Ivy readied her plants, but Harley stopped her.

“Don’t,” she said, “he can’t be any more dead and it would be better if you aren’t associated with it.”

“Bastard deserved it,” said Damian, “and you haven’t thanked me yet”

“Thank you,” replied Jason after a second of silence.

“What happened?”, Spoiler ran to the rest of the group, “The police will be here soon, and-“

She stopped upon seeing the dead Joker.

“An act of self-defense,” replied Renee.

“And… that’s it?”, asked the girl.

“Just leave it be. Gotham will be better without him,” said Poison Ivy.

“We have to go quick. Thank you all for helping us. Thank you,” she looked at Jason, “for ending it.”

And like that, the three women were gone, leaving Jason with Batfam (including Spoiler arguing with Robin through the ear piece) and Damian, all looking at him.

“So,” started the Question, apparently the leader of the group, “there’s a lot to explain here, and I’d like to have some names first and maybe some proof this isn’t some sort of elaborate trap.”

“We are grateful for your help, but who exactly are you two?”, asked Batwoman.

Damian was first to reply.

“I am Damian Wayne, son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al-Ghul, and this is-“

“I am Jason Todd,” Jason interrupted him. To his small disappointment, the others did not react to either announcement as much as he hoped, so he continued.

“I used to be Robin. Then I died, but now I’m back. I would have said nice to meet you, but you see for yourselves.”

Batwoman nodded.

“Wayne Manor. Now,” she said as the sound of the police sirens became audible.

“What about Barbara?”, asked Batgirl.

“She’s fine, her father will be here in a minute!”, yelled Spoiler.

“But he won’t like seeing a dead body here, even if it’s the Joker” replied Renee and took to run, the rest of the group following suit.

Jason smirked, knowing he was back with the family.

**Author's Note:**

> Jason's biggest wishes were as follows:  
> 1\. To make Bruce sorry he didn't avenge him (no longer relevant)  
> 2\. For Bruce to accept him back.  
> 3\. For Dick to return his feelings.  
> 4\. For Joker to die.  
> I'm sorry I didn't insert it properly into the story!  
> Basically, the premise was that due to Joker's meddling with time various events from the 00s Gotham comics were happening at once. So:  
> -Renee and Kate never broke up and took their code names earlier  
> -Harley and Ivy reformed earlier and formed much more heroic Sirens with Selina  
> -War Games never happened  
> -Bludhaven was never destroyed  
> -Finally, Damian meeting and befriending (in his own way) Jason was a side effect.  
> I hope you enjoyed the story!


End file.
